Melting the Elements: God’s Global Warming Initiative

By David Outten, Production Editor

When we look at the earth, we think of it as virtually a permanent fixture in the universe. Some scientists discuss changes in the sun over billions of years that could result in the destruction of the earth, but for our generation, and the next 100 to follow, they have little to fear of cataclysmic destruction.

The concern about man-made global warming is over relatively small increases in temperature that threaten to melt polar ice, flood costal regions. and cause population shifts. In recorded history, we’ve seen significant periods of global warming and cooling, and humans and animals have adjusted.

The Biblical concept of global warming is catastrophic — much more like shown in the movie KNOWING. The global warming dreaded by the politically correct scientific community calls for a human response of conservation and regulation. Calls for environmental law enforcement on a global scale threaten the sovereignty of nations. Many Conservatives see the global warming scare as a ruse to promote ever-increasing government control of life on earth.

The Biblical lesson on global warming has more to do with preparation for a new heaven and a new earth. It’s been nearly 2,000 years since the warnings of impending environmental catastrophe were written, but the message has always been, “Prepare to meet your maker. The end may be tonight or it may be thousands of years from now.”

There’s nothing wrong with recycling plastic, buying cars that get better gas mileage, or putting solar panels on your roof, but none of that behavior will prepare you for Biblical global warming.

2 Peter 3:3-13 reads:

“In the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, ‘What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.’

“They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of His command, and He brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then He used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

“But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

“Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, He will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.”

A scientific name for the “elements melting with a fervent heat” is a runaway thermonuclear deflagration wave. Should one of these occur, in a twinkling of the eye the earth would be toast. The scientists working on the early atomic bombs were actually concerned about the possibility of initiating one of these.

The Bible tells us God will initiate his global warming when He chooses.

The great news is that if you’re ready for that day you don’t die. God has planned a new heaven and a new earth where there are no R-rated movies. There’ll be no crime, no sorrow, and no bitterness. It’ll be astounding. If you think this earth is beautiful, wait ’til you see the new earth.

The question is, “How do you get there?”

There’ve been lots of science fiction movies that have people fighting over who gets to go on the spaceship that leaves earth just before it’s destroyed. Superman was one of a very few to escape a cataclysm on Krypton.

The good news is that there’s ample room on the new earth and there’s no crowded spaceship you have to have a ticket to ride. What you need is a proper relationship with God. You can’t buy it at any price. You can’t earn it with good works. This relationship is offered to you by God who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross so that your sins could be forgiven and a proper relationship established. The proper relationship is that, being forgiven, you now live to obey God. He gives you His Holy Spirit, living in you, to be your guide. As you surrender your life to Him, He can do amazing things through you to minister to others.

Again, you don’t earn a ticket to the new earth, but those living on this earth should see your changed life almost as if you’re an alien already.

1 Peter 2:11 reads:

“Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul.”

The earth is headed toward disaster and judgment. Wickedness will be judged. But God has His aliens on earth to serve and be salt and light. While wickedness may not be destroyed until the final cataclysmic event, it can be reduced. Those who are prepared for the new heaven and the new earth should be doing what God leads them to do to be light in this dark world.

On earth day 2012 we should ask ourselves, “What kind of world would we like this to be as we approach judgment day? Do we want it to be more hellish or more heavenly? Do we hope for more wickedness or more righteousness? Whichever direction America takes, are we aliens in this world or beings awaiting destruction and judgment?

The next time you put out your bin of recyclables, think for a moment about God’s Biblical global warming.